One of PAPTAC's key objectives is to play an active role in the development of the industry's future workforce. This section will feature programs, resources and information providing employers with tools to facilitate the essential need for an effective transfer of acquired knowledge and know-how to the future generations of workers.

The "aging workforce" is an issue of prevalent concern to all current businesses. As baby boomers move closer to being retirement eligible, it is no longer an emerging issue; rather, it is today’s reality, yet many companies are ill prepared to meet the challenges of this greying workforce. Managing this demographic certainty is much more complicated than simply facing a mass retirement exodus and replacing these skilled workers with less experienced ones. It’s about crucial knowledge being drained out of companies in all sectors; not only cognitive/intellectual knowledge, but practical know-how as well. Thankfully, though, retirement patterns will vary significantly depending on where one is in the cycle and will play out differently from one geographical area to another, from company to company, and even from function to function, thus affording us a small window of opportunity to plan. For obvious reasons we can’t fully predict how these confluence of factors will actually play out, all we can do is prepare and be ready to act when the need to do so arises. So how do we prepare? Training. Many companies view employee training and development as more optional than essential, and many training budgets are planned solely as a function of a company’s current economic status. In good times, companies are more apt to spend money on training, while in bad times it is seen as an expendable commodity and eliminated altogether. Yet more than ever, business survival will be correlated to an investment in its human capital. Companies will have to define their business wisdom and intellectual knowledge and establish a workforce planning strategy to ensure the transmission of proprietary, collective, and practical knowledge to the new generation. Training and development must play an imperative role in today’s modern workplace. Companies are looking to their professional orders and associations, which have embraced this challenge and are working to put affordable training programs back on the map, and are addressing the obstacle of cross-industry competition and skilled human resource depletion and retention. PAPTAC offers many training initiatives in the form of webinars, technical & management forums , local technical days, international conferences, etc. that promote the exchange of such knowledge and experience. The Association is also working on developing training modules addressing the current manpower training challenges.

Human capital is your principle business asset -- invest in it strategically.

Carmie LatoProject ManagerPAPTAC

Tackling the Workforce Renewal Challenge Head-On

Workforce renewal is definitely a global concern. In Canada, as in most industrialized countries, the workforce is aging, and quickly. Young workers are becoming a rare species. According to Statistics Canada, ten years from now, there may not be enough young people entering the workforce to replace those retiring. PAPTAC, as the Canadian technical association serving the pulp and paper sector and representing the industry’s workers, is very aware of this situation and the decline of the current labour force. As a result PAPTAC is organizing and participating in events at which students and researchers are given an opportunity to show, via presentations, posters and other activities, how they are preparing themselves to enter the job market and supplement the current workforce. The FIBRE Conference held in Vancouver last May was, among other things, an occasion to discuss the changing of the workforce in the private and public sectors, and specifically in the pulp and paper industry. A student workshop entitled “Where are the jobs and how do I get one?” gave students and post docs a chance to debate the question by talking to industry leaders, developing key networking relationships, and improving their presentation skills. In particular, some perspectives were offered by Cascades, Noram Engineering and UBC. The PacWest conference held in Jasper at the end of May was another great platform to talk about the future of “human capital.” Students in pulp and paper and engineering programs presented their technical/research papers to delegates at a dedicated student session and actively took part in the conference program. A total of six research students from UBC presented their technical papers and practical projects focusing on the conference theme of “Improving Mill Results.” Within PaperWeek Canada, a new component called Career Fair was organized to help create and strengthen ties between industry and student members, the educational community and the workplace. This is a unique environment to gather employers and future talent under the same roof. In addition, in order to respond to the growing need for the renewal of the industry’s workforce, PAPTAC set up a national student community to promote networking and help develop students’ future careers. You can follow the PAPTAC Student Community on Facebook. PAPTAC is increasingly involved in the workforce renewal challenge, and will assist future workers and employers during the transition by providing career programs and organizing training initiatives.

Cristina MurcianoDevelopment LeadPAPTAC

Call for Students Posters 2015

In February 2015, the Student Community will be in charge of organizing the annual PaperWeek Canada-Student Poster Session in Montreal.

In order to facilitate interactions among Canadian students and abroad, PAPTAC is pleased to announce its Students Community now has a page on Facebook. This platform makes a perfect match with the new generation of workers to help promotion and networking. We invite all to ''like'' the page and be part of the group.

The intellectual dynamics were seen among the young graduate students at the PAPTAC Conference where they gathered their innovative thoughts during the Poster Session on the 100th Anniversary of PaperWeek in February, 2014, in Montreal.

In order to respond to the growing need for the renewal of the industry's workforce, PAPTAC took the decision to grant a free membership to students across Canada and internationally since January 2013.

Workforce renewal is a growing need and key priority in the forest products industry. A labour market report by the Forest Products Sector Council, indicates that the industry will have to fill as many as 130 000 positions by 2020. Whether it is for mechanics, engineers, researchers, electricians or equipment operators, opportunities are numerous for anyone willing to work in this well-established and evolving sector.